Background

I married my sweetheart on a beautiful, warm evening in May 2005. Our families and friends were gathered together on this wonderful evening in Lexington, SC. My best friend, Amanda, was the matron-of-honor. Johnnie’s best man was Tim his best buddy. All of the people that we loved were gathered there to celebrate our big day. Some of my fondest moments were: walking down the aisle, saying “I do” (after a long period of silence, more on that later), dancing with my father, seeing people I hadn’t seen for a long time, throwing the bouquet, and leaving after the reception. My least favorite part of the wedding was my mom changing my dad walking me down the aisle at the last moment. She had my stepfather and my father both walk me down the aisle. As you can imagine, that went over like lead balloons.

The best moments were spending time with my mother and grandmother. Mom was in rare form that morning. She decided to wake me up at the crack of dawn, by doing her normal rise and shine routine, by yelling at the top of her lungs to get up and adjusting the shades so all of the light would penetrate my bedroom. She told me that she was going to miss me, but she was so proud of me for finally finding someone to settle down with. Both of us ended up getting a little misty-eyed. I went downstairs for breakfast and ran into my grandmother. She took out a box of photos that I had asked for. We ended up looking at them while she told me stories of when she got married to my grandfather during the war. She drew comparisons between me and her. She said that she was happy that I had waited until I was 29 to get married like her instead of my mother. Hearing what all she had to say filled me with inexplicable joy. We (my whole family) had breakfast, and then watched a video compilation of pictures of both Johnnie and I growing up. I then got ready for the day, and left the house. I didn’t return until after our honeymoon.

Johnnie and I returned to Columbia after the honeymoon. We spent a few days with my mother and stepfather. We then moved all of my stuff to Dallas, TX, where Johnnie was living after accepting a promotion from a large cellular corporation. The first year was like most couple’s first year of marriage, difficult. We both learned when to compromise, and when to dig our heels in for the long haul. My sweet, loving grandmother died in May a year later. Nana hadn’t been feeling too well, she had told me on occasion that she had stomach pains. My grandmother got diagnosed with cancer. She was given a month to live, and died two weeks later when I was traveling back home to see her before she passed.

Six months later I was sleeping soundly when my husband woke me up. He told me that there had been an accident. I don't think he could get the words out before I said my mother. He shook his head to indicate that she was in the accident. I then asked if she made it. He shook his head to say no that she didn't. In that second my world fell apart. I couldn't believe that my mother was dead. I had to call my uncle and verify it with him. There are no words to describe the pain and loss that I felt at that moment. The next two weeks were a blur. I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to eat. I really don't recall a lot of what happened other than picking out her casket. Prior to the wake, seeing her face for the first time and just being in total denial. I pointed at my mom and said that's not her. You've got my mom mixed up with someone else. She doesn't look like that. My aunt and uncle had to tell me over and over that it was mom, so I could accept that it was her in that casket. This was such a sad period of my life. It is an experience that I am still not over even though it’s been six years. There are some things that you just can't get over, but you have to move past it.
I quit my job and moved back home. Luckily, Johnnie was able to relocate within his company. We moved back in April 2007. When we moved back home I believed that everything would just go back to the way that it was. My friends and I would rekindle our friendship. Johnnie's parents would embrace us along with the rest of my family. What a sad joke that turned out to be. No, our friends and family had moved on with their lives. We found that we had to make a new place for ourselves.

First Blog

This is my first time doing anything of this nature. I apologize if this comes off as somewhat amateurish, but this is why I named my blog “Just a Few Idiosyncrasies”. You will find after reading this after a while that I am different, quirky, and slightly offbeat. It’s okay because I know it, too, but for right now I am going to try to take the direct approach and create a mission statement. I feel like I am actually at work right now just by writing the words “mission” and “statement” together in a sentence. It actually gives me cold chills. I digress. My mission statement is to state the truth and not to hold anything back. How does that sound to you?



Today is Labor Day; I hope you have a fun, safe holiday!